WCMUT....what cheered me up today

I had to laugh the other week whilst there, we were heading for a bar near Ronald O’s statue and there was the usual scrum around taking pictures, one woman remarked to her husband(yanks) “at that height he’d make more money playing basketball than soccer”, some folk might have thought I was daft laughing as we walked away.
 
I post anything that made me smile/laugh in WCMUT.

This hotel that my wife and I are in, in Madeira, has a lot of German guests . I always take a book or two on holiday and on this trip I brought one by Colonel Maurice Buckmaster OBE and leader of SOE operations in occupied France. It's not just their bravery and resourcefulness in tight situations that impresses me so much but that of the French Resistance , too, and of those ordinary French individuals who, also at risk of torture and death at the hands of the Gestapo, stood firm and contributed in small ways to the end of the Nazi regime.

I've been reading the book whilst lying on a sun lounger and a German couple,late 70's have been using the lounger next to us for the past couple of days. People tend to use the same loungers . So..I got to folding the book so the front cover couldn't be seen as it has a large photo of a French Resistance fighter , cap and all, standing on the fender,infront of the radiator grill of a truck, holding a rifle. When they aren't there I can have the book open but almost horizontal so the cover can't be seen. It was quite funny when my wife would say.."The Germans are coming"..lol. You wouldn't believe how awkward it is trying to do that. I chat to them in German and get on fine. The lady did say that where they live the nearby town was mostly destroyed by bombing, for which I apologised ..lol... not really...but looked very nice now. When we..my wife and I..got up to go for a snack or a coffee I carefully closed the book and put it in our bag rather than leave it on the lounger as everyone else does with their books..just in case a gust of wind lifts the towel cover and the book falls off.

Today, another, a much younger German couple, came and sat on the loungers on the other side of us. It's quite surreal reading about the detail of SOE operations and brushes with the French Milice police who collaborated with the occupiers and having german spoken either side of me..well, behind ,too. Another German couple was close behind us on the next level. Maybe, next holiday, I'll take a book about a different subject.
 
I just bought a scalextric kit, for my Grandson of course..... :LOL: :naughty:

Obviously, it's for him to play with when he comes to visit.....
 
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Jelster said:
I just bought a scalextric kit, for my Grandson of course..... :LOL: :naughty:

Obviously, it's for him to play with when he comes to visit.....
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You little tinker, you ;) :lol:
 
Had to de-ice the missus' car this morning, so went into my sock drawer to get some warm socks (at the back of the drawer). I found a pair of Karrimor walking socks, which have never been warn. They are marked R and L, for good reason, because they do feel different if you put them on the wrong foot. They are possibly the most comfortable socks I have ever worn, luckily I have three pairs of them - no idea when I purchased them though.
 
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I've put this here rather than in the 'Ukraine War' thread.

Yesterday, President Zelensky met Keir Starmer, Chancellor Merz and President Macron at Downing Street in relation to the latest Trump's Foreign Policy paper. I watched it on a Youtube news video which had subtitles. It's come to my notice, having seen a few of these that AI has a way to go yet re translation.

This is what should have been subtitled . "President Zelensky met Kier Starmer Chancellor Merz and President Macron at number 10 Downing Street."

This is what the subtitles actually read. It misspelt 'Kier',too....not my error. "President Zelensky met Ker Starmer, Chancellor Merz and President Macron at Tandamic Street. .:rolleyes:
 
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Live transcription has always been a bit hit-and-miss, even with humans! The chances of AI getting homophones correct is around 50/50. The thing that amuses me is tw@t nav's attempts at some place names...
 
I've ordered three items online, two of which attracted a 20% discount and the third, was substituted with a free upgraded item. Two have already arrived early and the third, is on its way! That never normally happens to me! Thank you suppliers.
 
My new Continental Sport Contact 7 tyres cheered me up today after a few days letting them scrub in. Even in today's crazy heavy rain they produced insane grip, a vast improvement over the previous and somewhat disappointing Goodyear Eagle 6 tyres.

Alas usually [Cue Spiderman] with great grip, comes great wear. I doubt I'll see 15k miles out of them.
 
I went to Vision Express today for an eyesight test and new specs. My wife had a very good experience when she went there in the summer. The eye-test was completed and the suggestion by the optition was to raise the height,by a few mms of the bi-focal reading segment and strengthen the left lens a tad. When the dispensing optician discussed this I said we'd look at the new specs racks. He asked if I wanted new specs. I said I thought I'd have to to get an upgrdae. "No. We'll upgrade you current lenses", he said . I was taken aback. Where I went before would have had me infront of the spec racks in no time. They now have returning customer.
 
I like them. At my last exam I had a slight change in my varifocals, and a tiny difference in the reading strength, the optician said I didn't really need new glasses if I didn't want them. I got new varifocals as the last time I didn't bother with those the frame fell apart after 3 and a bit years, so I had to buy new frames any way. But they said my reading glasses will be fine for another 2 years.

The other good thing is that with my Blue Light Card I get 35% discount off everything except the eye test, which I get for free from the NHS.
 
Humphrey said:
I like them. At my last exam I had a slight change in my varifocals, and a tiny difference in the reading strength, the optician said I didn't really need new glasses if I didn't want them. I got new varifocals as the last time I didn't bother with those the frame fell apart after 3 and a bit years, so I had to buy new frames any way. But they said my reading glasses will be fine for another 2 years.

The other good thing is that with my Blue Light Card I get 35% discount off everything except the eye test, which I get for free from the NHS.
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I was also very impressed with the latest technology they use. I'd describe it as 'futurustic'. The only thing they recommended was I have a layer of 'reflective or reactive coating. I don't like things like that. I declined and that was the end of that. At the other p[lace I used to go to the dispensing optician went on and on about this coating and that coating ,one for anti-glare,I think. We don't drive at night. I suppose we might get caught out during an eclipse.Eventually I just had to say.."Will you stop !" "Yep, no problem"he said. Well, it was for me.

My wife was seated close by and afterwards said she knew who would win that battle of wills. It felt like I was being brow-beaten.
 
When we had the kitchen done years ago they installed 8 GU10 (I think) bulbs and it's never been bright in there. At the time we were told that we could'nt fit brighter ones because of heat issues but these days we have led bulbs so that shouldn't be a problem. I ordered a box of 100w equivalent cool blue 6500k 1100lm ones and the kitchen is now brightly lit :D :D I've kept the old ones as I can't bring myself to throw out working bulbs but I can't see myself using them after seeing how bright these new ones are.
 
woof woof said:
When we had the kitchen done years ago they installed 8 GU10 (I think) bulbs and it's never been bright in there. At the time we were told that we could'nt fit brighter ones because of heat issues but these days we have led bulbs so that shouldn't be a problem. I ordered a box of 100w equivalent cool blue 6500k 1100lm ones and the kitchen is now brightly lit :D :D I've kept the old ones as I can't bring myself to throw out working bulbs but I can't see myself using them after seeing how bright these new ones are.
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We had the same problem and put in some 5 w ones, which improved it a fair amount. The real eye opener was when I found some 9w ones, each the equivalent of an old 135w bulb.
 
Cockney said:
We had the same problem and put in some 5 w ones, which improved it a fair amount. The real eye opener was when I found some 9w ones, each the equivalent of an old 135w bulb.
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Ours are listed as 10w but only quoted as being 100w equiv. We have the GU10's in the bathroom too but when I asked Mrs WW if she wanted them changing she said she didn't. One downside of the new bright bulbs in the kitchen is I can now see every speck and mark. I've also noticed how dimly lit the rest of the house is compared to the kitchen and how warm the other lights look.

These are the ones I went for.

 
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woof woof said:
Ours are listed as 10w but only quoted as being 100w equiv. We have the GU10's in the bathroom too but when I asked Mrs WW if she wanted them changing she said she didn't. One downside of the new bright bulbs in the kitchen is I can now see every speck and mark. I've also noticed how dimly lit the rest of the house is compared to the kitchen and how warm the other lights look.

These are the ones I went for.

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Sorry, I misread your original post, ours are G9s. LEDs were the same solution though.
 
I phoned HMRC today about the new tax code they had given my wife for this year and the extra they said she owed for the last tax year. About £550 in total,
After hanging on for nearly 40 minutes I got a tax man who listened to me and knew what he was doing.
Straightaway he said "why did someone do this" and proceeded to delete a lot of duplicate savings accounts.
In the end she owed £3.80 income tax on her pensions for last year. They are going to take it over 12 months from April 2026 :p
 
Suvv said:
I phoned HMRC today about the new tax code they had given my wife for this year and the extra they said she owed for the last tax year. About £550 in total,
After hanging on for nearly 40 minutes I got a tax man who listened to me and knew what he was doing.
Straightaway he said "why did someone do this" and proceeded to delete a lot of duplicate savings accounts.
In the end she owed £3.80 income tax on her pensions for last year. They are going to take it over 12 months from April 2026 :p
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I had to call them and waited 45 minutes. It was about CGT. I'd sold a tranche of shares. I signed up..as you do re o membership. One question was "Date you acquired these shares?" It was a number of batches and over a period of time. The page wouldn't let me progress. The first person I spoke to said she didn't know the answer and went to ask a colleague. She put me through to him..a technician. Strange title for someone working for HMRC. Anyway, very nice chap. He said he couldn't understand why that question was there and directed me to another page in a different section which just asked what the difference was between the purchase and the sale price minus costs..ie the 0.5% stamp duty on the purchase only and commission on both. He also told me I wouldn't be able to inform them until after April 5th and before January 31st 2027.

I thanked him for his help and aplogised for taking so much of his time explaining the forms. He said, no problem, that was his job but,sadly, he also said that it's nice not to have someone shouting at him. What's the matter with people.? He doesn't make the rules. It's the same speaking to someone re insurance..that's my usual call when I'm not happy about something but I never get annoyed with the customer care person /agent. He/she doesn't make the rules.You get far more by being calm and courteous and you can still make your point. Most times I say, "I appreciate it's not you personally, and never say "you" when I mean "the company". Sometimes I'll say that I appreciate it's top management make these unfair rules or upping the premium by 30% etc but they aren't at the end of phones taking the flak. I often end up with a positive outcome.
 
Anything that made me laugh goes in this thread.

Today, I went get windscreen wash. There were two cages piled high with 5L cartons. One was the regular one and the other was "berry-scented". I went to a member of staff and with a straight face asked if they might be getting in any vanilla or strawberry-scented ones. The reply was,"I don't think so, I haven't seen any like that, I think it's just the berry-scented ones we have". I said thank you but I find berries can be a bit sharp so I'll take the non-scented regular one . "Sorry".. said the assistant and off I went with the regular one to the pay desk. I said to the cashier that I'd have had a vanilla or strawberry scented one if they did them them but, as I told your colleague I find berries quite sharp. "Yeah..I think that's the only one we do".
 
Was that concentrated or ready-to-use, John?

We get the concentrated (unflavoured) variety from the local autofactors which is cheaper than the pre-diluted is at Halfords, Sainsbury's etc..
 
You could always add your own favourite flavouring to it, orange or wild berry?? :)
 
I quite like the smell of the "natural" stuff!


WCMUT is another smell thing - freshly baked brownie (judging by the bowl scraping, a good batch!) and "healthy" (using molasses instead of golden syrup and containing dates) flapjack.
 
Nod said:
I quite like the smell of the "natural" stuff!


WCMUT is another smell thing - freshly baked brownie (judging by the bowl scraping, a good batch!) and "healthy" (using molasses instead of golden syrup and containing dates) flapjack.
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'Golden syrup' took me back to lashings on a fresh 'doorstep ' with my old Nan. Thanks for that. :D
 
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Nod said:
Was that concentrated or ready-to-use, John?

We get the concentrated (unflavoured) variety from the local autofactors which is cheaper than the pre-diluted is at Halfords, Sainsbury's etc..
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I've tried quite a few and ended up with Autosmart Clearview concentrated. It has that lovely and reassuringly strong window cleaner type smell, cuts through almost anything and doesn't leave streaks. It's rated for -15°C and seems to be a genuine rating because it never freezes. I find even the -30°C Halfords stuff would still freeze in sub zero temps. I stick to the same brand to avoid congealing.
 
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Nod said:
Was that concentrated or ready-to-use, John?

We get the concentrated (unflavoured) variety from the local autofactors which is cheaper than the pre-diluted is at Halfords, Sainsbury's etc..
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Yes, it was diluted. 5L was £6. The concentrated one is £9.99 but,I assume cheaper after dilution. The berry scented one was £7.99. I had to laugh. I forgot to mention that the regular one had written on the label 'Unscented". There's another one 'with added rain repellent'. That's £9.50 for 5L. I wonder if people think it keeps rain off the windscreen..lol..?. I suppose so.
 
Norkie said:
You could always add your own favourite flavouring to it, orange or wild berry?? :)
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It's not a 'flavouring',Jak....Lol. Maybe it gives an aroma inside the car, otherwise, the only possible beneficiaries would be pedestrians at traffic lights on red. :)

I clean the plastic inside the car with Turtle Wax vanilla spray. It's really nice.
 
gman said:
I've tried quite a few and ended up with Autosmart Clearview concentrated. It has that lovely and reassuringly strong window cleaner type smell, cuts through almost anything and doesn't leave streaks. It's rated for -15°C and seems to be a genuine rating because it never freezes. I find even the -30°C Halfords stuff would still freeze in sub zero temps. I stick to the same brand to avoid congealing.
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My goodness. The concentrate is £26.95 at Elite Car Care
 
JohnC6 said:
My goodness. The concentrate is £26.95 at Elite Car Care
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I didn't know that, ouch. I get to blag it from 50l trade drums, happy days.
 
Getting "err indoors" Christmas present from Evri late last night, I wasn't sure it would arrive before Christmas (to be fair Evri are excelent here in my part of Wales) and today ordering my Christmas present from my youngest son. The Hamish Macbeth tv series box set. I've got into the books this year.
I know the series is different, but the few I actually saw way back I enjoyed. Plus it'll be better that the drivel on tv over Christmas....
 
Diluted screen wash! Likely 80%+ water, maybe more, Prestone screen wash my usual brand.
 
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mj4456 said:
Diluted screen wash! Likely 80%+ water, maybe more, Prestone screen wash my usual brand.
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I checked that because I thought you might have a good point.

This is from a list of questions about screen wash so you don't want to see all the others which are irrelevant to this particularr issue. It's by Prestone Ltd. A car-care company.

"One myth surrounding screen wash is the idea that ready-to-use products don’t offer good value for money. The great thing about ready-to-use screen wash is that it’s been pre-mixed by professionals, so you can always guarantee great performance and freeze protection.It can also help you avoid wasting screen wash – if you mix it yourself you could make it too strong and end up needing to buy more, but on the other hand if you make it too weak it won’t have good enough cleaning abilities."

From an AI overview.

"Ready-mixed (diluted) screen wash in the UK can feel like a rip-off because it's often pricier per litre than concentrate, but it offers convenience and guarantees correct dilution for performance, while concentrates save money and space but require you to mix with water, risking errors or freezing if done wrong, with some tests even showing ready-mix can be better value sometimes, making the choice about convenience vs. cost/control"

With all the above in mind I think I'll stick with the ready-to-use option, not least because I found a 5L half-filled ready-mixed in the garage after I got home with the new 5L container . I certainly won't spend the extra £2 for the berry-scented or any other scented version :) . On a serious note,though...I can see some people wanting to buy it because of the clinical/hospital smell of the regular screen wash due to alcohols like ethanol or isopropanol and other disinfectant chemicals which many people really don't like the smell of. For whatever reason, it doesn't bother me because I actually like that smell. It tells me everything is, or is likely to be, sanitised/clean.
 
It’s unlikely many peeps on here will have a refractometer in their garage but I have from a previous job, and make up 20 litres at a time to use as required, 5% mix I find is fine if using a quality screenwash, picky I know but I always have time on my hands for silly jobs and the container has a guide line on the side to make life easy, and the water, free from the tap.
But whatever floats your boat, convenience suits many.
 
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I get mine from the spillage at work, we just get the -25 strength neat and dilute weaker in summer and stronger in winter and even stronger in very cold weather. The spillage is noticed as we go through 2 - 300 gals a year.
 
mj4456 said:
It’s unlikely many peeps on here will have a refractometer in their garage but I have from a previous job, and make up 20 litres at a time to use as required, 5% mix I find is fine if using a quality screenwash, picky I know but I always have time on my hands for silly jobs and the container has a guide line on the side to make life easy, and the water, free from the tap.
But whatever floats your boat, convenience suits many.
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Our "ready to use" container is marked for 1:3 and 1:1 dilutions on the side. Only a 5 litre jug but easier to lift and pour from than a 20L can!
 
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